Karrel the Grox Slayer Chapters 7 - 9
'Chapter 7' Location: Ucharpli, Muelia System, Malick Cluster The next morning, Karrel was taken to the verdant jungles of Tralgatar continent, a land where giant reptiles thrived in the vegetation. The rain was pouring giving a soothing ambience to the rain forest. Before him was what seemed to be a trail littered with miscellaneous obstacles all of which were part of the jungle. The Exam Proctor said, "As you may already know, this portion of the test is the most physically demanding. It tests your fitness as well as your perseverance. The goal is to take this sword to the pedestal at the end of the course before nightfall." The Proctor handed over a thin, steel sword. "It is a 20 mile trip. If you fail to make it before nightfall, the nocturnal Batra and other dangerous creatures will swarm at you en masse. However, be mindful that you may still encounter dangerous creatures during the day. Are you ready? Go!" Karrel took off at a slight pace saving up his energy. The first obstacle was simply a steep slope. It was no problem. At the top of the hill was a steep drop off with a dangerous river below. He leaped forward and grabbed one of the hanging vines and swung over the top of the river. Soon enough, he landed on the other side and continued the trek through the jungle, hopping over rocks and avoiding giant bramble. About midway through the trip, Karrel came across a pack of Batra which were flying reptiles about one meter long. The creatures began to circle around him and were about to attack him. Karrel stood still, readying his sword, then the Batra swarmed. With dexterity, he sliced the wings of the dangerous creatures wounding them. He continued on the agility course. He was coming close to the end. The sun was about to go down and it was getting dark. Karrel picked up the pace. He came to another ravine. At the bottom of it was a twisting, entangled mess of bramble. The leap across seemed just out of his reach and the ravine extended for miles to his left and right. There was no other way around. "How am I going to do this? What if I don't make it? No, I have to. I need to for my father." Karrel took a few steps back and sprinted. He closed his eyes and jumped, flapping his wings a bit to give him a bit of air time. As he reopened his eyes, he came up short in the jump. Desperately, he drove the sword into the side of the cliff and saved himself. He leaped up, drew the sword out and continued. The sun was just barely visible over the horizon. As he approached the pedestal, a Dhragolon knight in heavy armor approached him. "Not so fast, Karrel. I cannot let you place that sword in the pedestal for this is sacred ground. Only I may place my sword in it." "I don't understand. This pedestal is reserved for the Royal Exam though." "That may be true, but you must prove yourself worthy of standing upon this sacred ground. En garde!" The knight swung his enormous, blessed Dragonrock sword at Karrel who barely dodged it. He swung his own sword at the knight, but it was easily blocked. "You have to do better than that, Karrel!" The knight swung his sword once more, this time injuring Karrel and tossing him towards the edge of the cliff. As Karrel got up, the knight effortlessly knocked Karrel's sword out of his hands and off the cliff, into the bramble. Karrel shouted, "Who are you?! Why did you knock my sword away?" "No weapon can defeat me! You hinder yourself with one!" That moment, Karrel suddenly remembered reading about an old story when he was a child. It was about a legend involving a creature known as the Garmatox that would raid a village every night. When a boy named Mathus went to confront it, the Garmatox did not let the boy fight it with weapons, but Mathus still defeated the Garmatox. He realized he had to fight with his true strength only and not rely on an instrument. Karrel stood up and charged, tackling the knight. When the knight tried to swipe him away, Karrel snatched the sword from his and stuck into the pedestal. The knight removed his helmet revealing himself to be the Exam Proctor. "Very good. You have passed. The Dragon Test Vessel is just through this trail, so hop into it and get us back to Yallvus." Although Karrel was tired, he needed to keep going as becoming king was such a rigorous task. He brisked through the trail, hopped on the Dragon Test Vessel with the Exam Proctor following him. He started up the engines and took off. Getting to Yallvus was no problem though he was attacked by a few drones on the way there. Not long after, the moment came when Karrel found himself standing on a floating platform with another Royal surrounded by an audience in all directions. "You, Rustiagon Karrel, have done well. You are the very first Dhragolon in history to answer all 1000 questions of the written portion correctly. As a member of the Royal Council, I am honored to grant you the title of King." The audience applauded and their claps echoed across the room. The Royal placed a yellow sigil in the shape of a dragon on Karrel and placed a blue hat with the same insignia on his head. "King Rustiagon Karrel, your father would be proud of this moment. However, as you have already experienced, being a king is a dangerous job. The Grox are still at war with us. We are counting on you to either force them to surrender or find a diplomatic solution. The new Dragon Cruiser is ready. You must depart to Raycaon." Chapter 8 Location: Yallvus Intercolonial Spaceport Karrel stood before the flagship itself, the Dragon Cruiser. Its blue, metallic shell shined in the sun. He stepped aboard. The crowd surrounding him cheered wildly. Eventually, the engines began glowing blue and the Dragon Cruiser began levitating off the ground. Then it took off into the sky and into space."Initiating Electron lightspeed engine," displayed a message on the ship's interface after he pulled a lever. Then, Karrel moved naother lever forward. The electrons inside the engine suddenly were released, thrusting the ship to lightspeed. Karrel grabbed the handrail to prevent himself from falling down. He passed by quickly the gas giant Walknes. Then a message appeared, "You have escaped Muelia's gravitational pull. It is now safe to use warp drive.""Setting a course to Raycaon," Karrel said. He moved another lever and a bubble appeared surrounding his ship. The stars began to distort as his ship now appeared to be travelling faster than light. In reality, the ship was moving only at lightspeed as space around him was bending to propel him forward. After a few days, he was already at Raycaon space station.The ship dropped out of warp and the Electron engines cooled down. The Dragon Cruiser docked with the space station and a royal came to greet him."Your Highness!" the Royal said, giving the Dhragolon salute of quickly raising his right hand to his left shoulder."At ease, Brother," Karrel replied."Your Highness, what are your orders?" the royal asked."You must alert the peacekeepers to defend this colony at all costs. I will be invading the Grox.""Sir?""Yes, Brother. We must continue what we started.""As you wish, my liege," the royal replied. "You are correct. I shall aller the peacekeeper counsellors." Karrel went back to his ship and went to interstellar space. He grabbed a beacon and sent a radio message to the Grox. ---- Meanwhile, on Xorgraria, Overlrod Norpobsy was sitting in his chair. The radio tower began pick up a signal. Translating it, Norpobsy listened: "You Grox people have colonized the center of the galaxy and have been feared by other races just as much as ours has. ; When I first learned of you, I was in awe of the power of your empire. I respected your fighting spirit in this war, until now. You had no reason to take the life of my very own father, King Rustiagon Reckar! That was the last straw! ; I have had enough of my fellow kin constantly under attack! ; I have had enough of your existence! ; I have had enough of the grief and pain you burdened me with! ; I have suffered the death of the one who taught me everything! ; It was him that inspired me to work to answer all 1000 questions correctly on the Royal Exam! ; It was him that inspired me to become king! ; Twenty-two years ago as a child from my very own eyes, I saw the Dragon Cruiser with my father on it burst into space dust after being bombarded by Grox warships! You, the Grox, have been deemed evil, heartless scum devoid of honor! ; Fear me, Grox Empire! My name is King Rustiagon Karrel. ; You killed my father, King Rustiagon Reckar, and I shall obliterate each of your cities one by one! ; I will cleanse the galaxy of your existence and future generations shall never know that you were here!" The overlord said, "Humph! Those carbon-based life forms think they are tough. It appears that their government has not collapsed. IF this mortal wants to continue this war, let him have it." Chapter 9 Location: Izerg, Magnus 586, Core Cluster It was a normal day on a Grox colony on Izerg. The thick, red fog and the orange, endless desert surrounded the ominous architecture of the city. The cyborg Grox were simply minding their own business.In the distance, something was amidst the red fog. It cam closer revealing itself to be a Dragon Cruiser. It flew just over the city dropped a spherical metallic object and left the atmosphere. The object plummeted downward, and when it hit the ground, all what was left of the city was a crater. Category:Dhragolon